Super Bowl Eats.

The game was good, the commercials were ok and the food & friends were fabulous! Oh and The Office was freaking hysterical, seriously I almost choked I was laughing so hard when Dwight cut off the dummies face!

Just a few pictures of the food...

Beef sliders with cheese on King's Hawaiian buns aka crabby patties as the kids call them.

Beef chili with red kidney beans (recipe coming soon)

Awesome guacamole

Yeah, it's that awesome! When you're guacamole can make a kid this happy then you can call it awesome too!

Sausage Flowers.

Tonight is the big game, Ohio State v. Texas in the Fiesta Bowl. Having had our asses handed to us by SEC schools the last few bowl games, we're due for a win - hopefully it's a big one! We're going to a friends house to watch the game and we needed to bring a dish with us.

I've made this recipe before and it's really fast & easy to make, not to mention delicious!

I decided to not top the wontons with sour cream since they'd be sitting out all night & not everyone at the party is a fan. Personally, I don't think you even really need it. You could also add some salsa, shredded cheese, chives or green onion to the tops to make them look prettier.


Sausage Flowers

1 lb. ground Italian sausage
1/2 c. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 c. Colby cheese, shredded
1 c. salsa
24 wonton wrappers (3 1/2" square)
12 oz. sour cream
1 bunch green onions, chopped


1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a miniature muffin pan.

2. Brown Italian sausage. Drain well. Stir Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses into sausage until cheeses melt. Stir in salsa. Cook until heated through.

3. Gently press wonton wrappers into prepared muffin pan, leaving edges extended. Place a heaping tablespoon of the sausage mixture into each wrapper. Bake 10 minutes, or until wonton edges begin to brown.

4. Transfer filled wontons to a serving platter. Top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream and sprinkle with chopped green onions.


Yield: 24
Source: The Baum Opera House Community Cookbook: Generations of Good Cooks, Vol. II 2004.

My notes: This is a pretty forgiving appetizer recipe and you could add just about whatever you wanted to the wonton wrappers. We had some at a friends house on New Years Day, which were normal muffin sized and also included black olives.

Big Ass BBQ

About 40 some people were in attendance for The 5th Annual Cornhole Tournament & Big Ass BBQ. It really doesn't seem like we've been hosting this event for five years, time really does fly! As always we had tons of food and some great BBQ! The husband went above and beyond in his quest for the perfect beef brisket this year, rising at 2am to start all 15 pounds of the brisket on the smoker - and somehow he still managed to be one of the last people up, 24 hours later!

The winning team this year took home $240, not bad for a few hours work! We hope everyone had a great time & can't wait for year six!

*On a technical does anyone know why Blogger is rotating my pictures when I download them? More importantly how do I rotate them back? Thanks!*

Now onto the food.......... I will post recipes later, the formatting issues on this post was starting to drive me insane!

The Meat

Beef brisket

Brats & burgers

Chili sauce, hot dogs & brats and sauerkraut

Side Dishes

Spinach artichoke dip with rosemary crackers

Kelly's famous taco dip

Vidalia onion peach salsa & beefy cheese dip

Fresh vegetables & dip

Fresh salsa & mango salsa

Jalapeno roll-up's

Ramen noodle salad

Roasted potatoes with squash & zucchini

Potato Salad

Macaroni & cheese and cheesy potatoes

Guacamole & my award winning salsa

Desserts

Zucchini bread

Tim Horton's Tim-bits

Brownies

Strawberry crunch cake

Giant chocolate chip cookie

Peanut M&M's

Gooey butter bars

Chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles

No pictures of - Asian style coleslaw, red skin potato salad, pesto with grilled garlic toast & brownies.

Random party pictures

Turmeric Honey Wings & Spicy Potato Wedges.

I was foiled again. For the life of me I can not get chicken wings to retain their flavor without resorting to flour and oil, a la the deep fryer. One day I'll get it right and when that happens I'm coming back to this recipe for Malaysian turmeric honey wings. The flavors were tasty, with the honey providing just the right amount of sweetness to offset the other spices. This would be a good marinade for grilled chicken too.

Along with the chicken wings I tried out another new recipe for spicy potato wedges. While the flavors were good, I would probably never make these again. I have a better way to roast potato wedges and they just weren't all that spicy.

Spicy Potato Wedges

1 lb. large, firm potatoes, such as round white, round red, Yukon gold or russet

3 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 Tbs. paprika or 2 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. turmeric

Salt & pepper

Chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Scrub the potatoes, then cut each in half lengthwise and then in half again until you have 8 even-shaped wedges. Put into a large pan of salted water, bring to a boil, and boil for 3 minutes. Drain well and return the wedges to the pan.

2. Ad the oil to the pan and toss the potato wedges in it until coated. Add the paprika, cumin seeds, and turmeric, season to taste with salt and pepper, and mix well together.

3. Spread the potato wedges out on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until tender and golden brown, turning 2-3 times during cooking. Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped cilantro to garnish.

Yield: 4

Recipe obtained from: Spices: A Cook's Guide to Spicy Recipes

Our dinner tonight was a delightful shade of yellowish brown thanks to all the turmeric. Be careful if you've never used turmeric before, it will stain everything it touches.

Tostada Pizza.

What do you get when you cross the ubiquitous taco dip with a pizza - why the tostada pizza of course! This is a pretty simple and flexible recipe which I made for dinner, but think it's more of an appetizer than an entree. Just about any mashed bean would work as a base for this pizza. Additionally, ground turkey or chicken could work in place of the beef or just skip the meat all together.


Tostada Pizza

1 pound lean ground beef
1 4-oz. can diced green chile peppers, drained
1/2 of a 1.5 oz. envelope taco seasoning mix (about 2 Tbs.)
1 tsp. chili pepper
1 Tbs. cornmeal
1 10 oz. package refrigerated pizza dough
1 15 oz. can pinto beans with jalapeno peppers, rinsed and drained
1 c. shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1 c. shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onions (about 4)
Bottled taco sauce

1. In a large skillet cook meat until brown. Drain off fat. Stir in 3/4 cup water, chile peppers, taco seasoning mix and chili powder. Bring to a boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 15-20 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone.

2. Meanwhile, grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with the cornmeal. Pat pizza dough into a 12x8-inch rectangle on the baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.

3. In a bowl mash beans with a fork; spread over partially baked dough to within 1/2 inch of edges. Spoon meat mixture over beans. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes more until crust is golden. Sprinkle with cheese cheese. Bake 1-2 minutes more or until cheese melts. Top with lettuce, tomato, and onions. If desired, serve with taco sauce.

Yield: 6 servings
Recipe obtained from: Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

Nutritional Information: 384 cal., 17 g. total fat (7 g. sat. fat), 67 mg. chol., 882 mg. sodium, 34 g. carbo., 5 g. fiber, 27 g. pro.

What I did: Pinto beans with jalapenos do not exist at my grocery store, I had sliced jalapeno' but forgot to add them. The added heat would have been greatly welcome.

Big Ass BBQ

Some 30 people showed up for today's 4th Annual Cornhole Tournament & Big Ass BBQ. For the first time in four years the weather was perfect on tournament day, it almost felt fall like. Everyone had a great time playing cornhole, catching up with friends and as always, eating a lot of fabulous foods, not to mention the tournament winners took home $260 - not bad for a few hours of work! Now, this would be the section where I'd tell you about all the great food we had & you could see all the pictures, however I was a bad cooking blog host and only ended up taking two, yes two, food related pictures. For the first time, in a long time, I actually took pictures of the people at our party and not what they brought to eat! Perhaps next time, I'll be able to strike a balance between the two. Enjoy now the two pictures I did take, and use your imagination for the rest. And yes, strangely enough I did take a picture of the cheese balls.


I made my usual tournament fare: macaroni & cheese, guacamole, my award winning salsa and decided to add the black bean & corn dip I tried out for the 4th of July Party. The husband and his trusty smoker were once again the stars of the day! The husband should also get the MVP award for putting the pork shoulder on at 4:30 am, way to early for me! His secret rub & mop have worked there magic again, since all 10 pounds of pork disappeared quickly. I did manage a picture of the pork the husband stashed away for us and the leftover macaroni & cheese - both of which made a fine lunch while recouping on the couch the next day.

Mayme's Macaroni & Cheese

3/4 pound Elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions

2 Tbs. Butter, preferably unsalted

3 Eggs

1 c. Buttermilk

1 c. Evaporated milk

1 1/2 tsp. Dry mustard

1/2 tsp. Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce

1/2 tsp. Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. Salt

2 c. Sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a medium-size baking dish. Toss the warm macaroni with the butter.

2. In a medium-size bowl, beat the eggs lightly and add the buttermilk, evaporated milk, dry mustard, Tabasco, pepper, and salt. Mix well. Stir in the macaroni and the cheese and pour the macaroni mixture into the prepared dish.

3. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the macaroni and cheese is lightly firm and browned. Serve warm. Any leftovers should be reheated gently to avoid developing the consistency of galvanized rubber.

Yield: 6 servings

Recipe obtained from: Smoke & Spice: Cooking with Smoke, the Real Way to Barbecue by Cheryl & Bill Jamison

What I did: Hands down I think this is the best baked macaroni & cheese! Never having any luck or desire to mix & stir milk and flour together - this is the only macaroni recipe I'll make. I generally double or triple this recipe and tend to add more pepper, hot sauce and dry mustard than indicated. I usually use Tabasco Chipotle brand, since I think it gives the macaroni more flavor.

Guacamole

Ripe Avocados, halved and chopped

Tomatoes, chopped

Fresh cilantro, chopped

Fresh lime juice

Garlic, minced

Jalapeno Chile, finely minced

Kosher salt

Ground cumin

1. Using a spoon scoop out the avocado flesh, mash with a potato masher or a fork to desired consistency. Stir in the remaining ingredients, adding more of any as needed for desired taste.

2. If not serving right away, cover with plastic wrap - making sure to press wrap directly onto the top of the guacamole. Refrigerate 4-6 hours. Taste & adjust seasonings before serving.

What I did: I don't follow the original measurements, since I'm usually making a lot. Guacamole is an easy, versatile and almost impossible to mess up! Add more of what you like (onion, corn, black beans) and omit what you don't like.

Recipe originally obtained from: Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook by Mary Corpening Barber & Sara Corpening Whiteford

Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated the holiday by having some friends over to grill out and play some cornhole. Our much needed rain fell right as the party was to begin, but not to worry our friends braved the sudden downpour and brought with them some delicious side dishes as well.

I made a couple different dishes for the party: cheesecake tart, watermelon salad with rum and mint and black bean dip with corn & basil - which didn't photograph well. All of them turned out well, I especially loved the black bean dip and it's healthy, which is a plus. I served the cheesecake with some leftover blueberry syrup and diced strawberries.

The husband and his grills were the stars of the party, as usual! He grilled up flavorable hamburgers, brats and some delicious pork loin. He uses an assortment of secret spices in the burgers and decided, at the last minute, to go with the pork loin and follow a recipe from barbecue u's Steve Raichlen.

It seemed fitting to wash down all this delicious food with some Yuengling, after all it is America's oldest brewery. An interesting historical fact about Yuengling: 1933 Prohibition ends. The brewery celebrates with the production of Winner Beer and ships a truckload to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Thank you, Mr. President.